To Bring Back the One You Love
by Kaitou-Dark-Sama
Summary: Cloud couldn't do anything when Zack died. But he had heard of this...place, this Forbidden Place in his Mako infused mind and has decided, with the world at peace, he would bring Zack back.  M for GORE and Yaoi later on
1. Opening

"_Hey, Cloud...if I died, would you kill 16 giant monsters to bring me back to life?" Zack asked his Mako poisoned friend where they were seated in the back of an unfamiliar truck. The black haired man laughed at his own question. "I'd love to live knowing that someone would do something like that for me..." he said leaning back and staring up at the sky, holding his hand above his face to block on the bright glare of the sun. Cloud was silent, Zack had expected nothing less then that. He laughed lightly, "It's alright buddy, your silence says it all...I just want you to know that I would do it for you no question." he said with a nod. "It's just a crazy myth anyways, so who really cares."_

The thoughts ran through Cloud's head as he looked up at the sky, blocking out the sun with one hand. He let out a brief sigh before looking down at his lap at the blanket covered body riding in front of him on his large yellow chocobo. "I would Zack..." he said his answer quietly wishing that he had been able to way back then. He looked out in front of him as the large bird stepped out onto a long thin bridge which led to a large brilliant, yet moss strewn, building in the distance.

_"That place...began from the resonance of intersecting points..." An eerie voice filled his mind, he had been told to sit here and wait for Zack to return, so what was this voice, when there was clearly nobody around. Cloud didn't move, not that he could much anyways. "They are memories replaced by ens and naught and etched into stone. Blood, young sprouts, sky- and the one with the ability to control beings created from light..." the voice continued, "In that world, it is said that if one should wish it one can bring back the souls of the dead...but to trespass upon that land is strictly forbidden." The voice trailed off and that was the last Cloud heard of it._

After riding his chocobo down a long winding path to the depths of this building he rode out into a sun filled room. There was an alter at the end of this statue lined hall and what he was to do flooded his mind. He rode the chocobo down to the stairs in front of the alter before jumping off. He took the blanket bound body off the back of the large yellow bird which let out a loud 'wark' and flapped its wings at the loss of all the weight on its back. He stepped up to the table like alter and placed the body down. He took a breath as he pulled the blanket off. His throat clenched as he looked down at Zack Fair, wearing completely white, looking younger then ever, everything on him looking completely perfect, just like the man Cloud had lost all those years ago. He let go of the blanket and it started to blow off in a slight breeze which was ruffling Zack's perfectly spiked hair. Cloud could not take his eyes away from the lifeless form in front of him.

"Wark!" the loud cry of his chocobo filled the room and Cloud turned to look at what was causing the animal to freak out. His eyes widened slightly and his hand went immediately for the sword on his back as what looked like the shadowy forms of men raised from the ground. Five of them had gathered in front of him when he took the bright Ultima Weapon off of his back and pointed it at the creatures. The sword shone brightly and as soon as they had appeared the shadowy beings blew into dust and then to nothingness. Cloud slowly lowered his weapon as he heard the cracks of thunder from above him. He looked up through the hole in the ceiling for a moment before back down at the hall in front of him as words filled the air around him.

"Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword?" it started, "So thou art mortal..."

"Are you Dormin?" Cloud asked looking back up slightly, speaking the name that had filled his mind those years ago as he had been spoken to, before he discovered the death of Zack. He took a breath and continued, "I was told that in this place at the end of the world-" he paused only briefly to put his sword back in it sheath, "there exists a being who can control the souls of the dead." he stopped and waited for this voice to reply.

"Thou art correct..." it said after a brief pause, "We are the one known as Dormin." then it fell silent again, a silence which seemed to ask for Cloud's reason for being there. The blond glanced back at the unmoving form of Zack, then back to the hole in the ceiling, where he presumed the voice was coming from.

"This man...died protecting the one he loved..." or at least Cloud presumed that was his reasoning, "He died without true reason...at the time his fugitive status had been revoked and the men who killed him had no reason to have done what they did." he explained. He looked over his shoulder at Zack again, "Please..." he looked back to the whole of the hall, "I need you to bring back his soul." he nearly pleaded.

"That man's soul?" the voice repeated it paused before continuing, "Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed. Is that not the law of mortals?" Cloud flinched at the words and looked down at the stone beneath his feet knowing that his claim would be turned down. "With that sword, however..." Cloud looked back up hope fluttering inside him, "it may not be impossible."

"Really!" Cloud questioned in his sudden excitement taking a small step forward, glancing at the sword on his back.

"That is, of course, if thou manage to accomplish what We askest." Dormin said in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

"What do I have to do?" Cloud asked, he was not going to turn back, he was willing to do anything for Zack.

"Behold the idols that stand along the wall...thou art to destroy all of them." Cloud looked around at the statues that lined the wall of the hall as Dormin continued, "But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal."

"Then...what am I supposed to do?" Cloud asked shaking his head slightly, not understanding what he was being asked to do completely.

"In this land, there exists colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi-" Dormin's voice rang through the building and Cloud did not like the sound of defeating colossi, "the idols shall fall." Cloud sighed, for some reason he had known this was coming. He lowered his head, a look of determination finding its way onto his pale features.

"I understand." He said looking back up at the idol filled hall wondering exactly how many of these things there were. He counted the statues in his head and couldn't help but find it ironic when he counted the last of them, the sixteenth.

"But heed this, the price you pay me be heavy indeed." the voice warned.

"It doesn't matter." Cloud said without hesitation. There was a silence before Dormin spoke again.

"Very well..." it started, "Raise thy sword by the light and head to the place where the sword's light gathers. There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat." Cloud turned around and faced the table like alter where a peaceful looking Zack was lying before looking out at the landscape outside of the stone shrine. He knew that there was a chance that he was not going to live through this, but he was willing to risk everything for Zack.

"Now be on thy way..." Dormin's voice trailed to a whisper and then to what seemed like a just of air as it disappeared and let Cloud know that he was to start this journey of life. Cloud sighed as he stepped around the alter and out into the balcony off the side off the alter. The sun light was bright and he covered his eyes for a moment as they adjusted, his other hand reached to the sword on his back. He lifted it into the air, the sheer weight of the item nothing to him. Sure enough light reflected off of the sword sending beams of light everywhere. Slowly the beams of light started to gather to point at one area almost directly south of the temple. Like Dormin had said...so that was where his first opponent would be waiting for him.

He put the sword on his back again and walked back into the temple. He stopped beside the alter and looked down at Zack's face. He frowned as he brushed a piece of hair from his face and traced a finger over the X shaped scar on his cheek. He lowered his own face to Zack's and placed the smallest of kisses on his cold lips. "Only for you...only for the one I love." he stated lifting his face from Zack's with a morbid smile. He looked down at those closed eye before walking around the alter and and getting on his chocobo with minor protests from the yellow creature before kicking it's sides and letting it start to run down and out of the shrine and onto the first colossus.

* * *

**SO SHORT! I'm not used to the shortnessnitude. TT-TT anyways I had this idea a while ago. I was upset by the lack of sexy men in SotC so I decided to pull in my sexy FF7 guys. Though there isn't any actual yaoi in it. **

**I am sorry for the slight Necrophilia at the end there too. But Cloud just loves Zack so damn much. ALSO This is pretty much a walkthrough for SotC...trust me, I recorded myself playing the game with my friends Dazzle, and it is my only reference. The paths I follow and my ways of defeating the colossi are exactly what you have to do. ALSO yes I did use the exact dialouge from the opening of SotC for this one heh. And I know, you have to aim your sword for the light to gather, that doesn't work in RL my friends. Chocobo = Only Comic Relief!**

**ALTERNATE BEGINNING/ENDING(from my friend Melanie): **

**"_Hey, Cloud...if I died, would you kill 16 giant monsters to bring me back to life?" Zack asked.  
__"Ah hell no. Sorry dude." ~The End~ LoL 83  
~Fire  
_  
**


	2. Colossus I

COLOSSUS I

He let the large bird travel almost directly south. The look of determination refused to leave his features as they headed onward. The chocobo was being surprisingly obedient at the moment and Cloud was far from complaining about it. That was, until they came up to a bright green tree and the chocobo seemed to have its own ideas on where they were going and veered off to the greenery. Cloud growled slightly as he tried to get the animal back on track but he went unnoticed. The bird started to eat at the greens growing at the base of the tree. In his anger and frustration Cloud dismounted and looked around ignoring the happy 'wark's the bird was letting out. His gaze rested on the large tree next to his chocobo and noticed that there was a single piece of fruit in the higher branches. He hadn't eaten in quite sometime, so despite his better judgement he took the bow and arrow off his back and aimed the weapon at the fruit and fired with deadly accuracy letting the bright orange fruit fall to the ground. He picked it up and removed the arrow giving it a tentative sniff before biting into it, revelling in the sweetness of it, glad that he had decided to do this, he was going to need to be as ready as possible to fight this monster and a full stomach may help. Sure it wasn't much but it would do.

He gave it a moment while the chocobo decided it was finished and then got back on the animal and continued the ride south. As they got closer and closer to a cliff face he was pretty sure he had found where he was supposed to go. Just to be sure he raised his sword again and sure enough the beams of light pointed straight forward to the break in the cliff side, and slightly upwards. And he had a feeling he would have to do some climbing as he approached the cliff face and looked up seeing how it stopped not to high up. That was where he was going and he knew it. He dismounted the chocobo and it took a few paces away and sat itself down. Cloud rolled his eyes at it as he spotted a patch of ivy climbing the side of the cliff face up to a small platform where he would start. Pulling himself up onto the first platform on his journey up to the colossus he let out a sigh and wondered how long this whole journey would take.

There was a path to the left, which curled up along the cliff face which he instinctively followed he stopped, and nearly fell as he came up to a break in the path, a nearly five foot wide gap. It was something he knew he could jump though. He took a breath as he made a running attempt to jump the gap, making it without a problem, a small stagger when he landed on both feet on the opposite side. Ha paused before continuing along the path coming quickly to a while with another platform not high up the cliff face next to him. Jumping and getting a firm grip on the stone he pulled himself up and continued heading down the path, across a patch of wooden planks and he couldn't help but wonder who had been in this 'forbidden land' who could have possibly put them down. He came up to another gap not far from this wooden bridge and took another running leap at it, landing it perfectly once again.

This time a fallen pillar blocked his path. He frowned at the stone slab for a moment before deciding to roll under the two foot gap between it and the ground. Even with the hefty sword, and the bow and arrows on his back he managed to make it under with no problem. He knew not many people were used to this kind of work, but he had been an operative in Shinra for years and defeated Sephiroth, who was supposed to have been the most powerful man on the PLANET, so this wasn't that difficult, but of course he had no idea what these colossi would be like when he finally found them.

A bit farther down the path he jumped up onto another ledge and then another at the end of this path before he ran into a little bit of a problem. He came face to face with a stone slab on one side, and a sheer drop on the other. He sighed as he climbed down to the path before and looked around. He noticed that the path continued on the other side of the stone slab with a six foot gap. He examined the slab, looking for something he would possibly be able to grab on to. He noticed a small ridge along the sides, on top of an abundance of ivy all over the structure and he knew what he had to do. He climbed back up onto the platform next to the slab. Taking a breath and bracing himself before jumping up and grabbing onto the ledge, slowly making his way around the structure simply hoping he wouldn't slip. Upon reaching the opposite side he eyed the path lurking just past the gap. It was just one jump, but from his position making a six foot jump would be rather difficult and he knew that.

Positioning himself with both feet against the stone and keeping one hand firmly gripping the small ledge and ivy. He turned his body to look at where he was jumping. From this position the jump was not nearly as far and he would be able to build up more power in his legs, but he was not high enough to land on the path. He took a breath as he extended his legs and jumped towards the path. His eyes squinted slightly as the view of solid stone came to his face. He reached up and managed to grab the ledge of the path above him even as his body slammed into the stone forcing the breath from his lungs. He hung there for a moment as he let himself regain his breath, his arms were starting to feel very strained as he pulled himself up onto the path. He sat himself against the cliff face and looked along the path, taking a short break, and observing what was to be done next.

Much to his surprise he did not see any more cliff faces along this path, in fact about fifteen feet down the path opened up into a large flat area. Cloud sighed and closed his eyes in relief. Figuring he had enough of a rest he stood up and started down the path. As he neared the opening into the clearing the earth below him started to shake and his eyes opened wide as he looked down, then up as more quakes came periodically. His mouth fell open slightly as he braced himself, he had been expecting large creatures when Dormin had said colossi but this was far from what he had really been expecting. This 'creature' looked as though it was made of stone, with fur covering its back and legs but what had caught Cloud's eye was the sheer size of this immense being. It had to be at least forty feet high with a shoulder span of at least twenty feet. In one of it's large hands it held a club double the size of Cloud's chocobo which looked to be made of pure stone. He had no idea how he was supposed to take on such a beast.

To his relief the creature walked right by him, shaking the earth with every step. Cloud's eyes never left it until he heard a voice in the back of his head, "Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed..." this confused Cloud for a brief moment before he tried what he was told and raised his sword into the air like he had to find where the colossus was in the first place. He was slightly shocked as the beams of light split to point at two points. One; the patch of fur on one of the creatures ankles. Two; the creatures head way up in the air. These must have been this creatures 'vitals' like Dormin had said. Cloud also figured he would be aiming for the ankle first.

He started making his way over to the large beast, staying behind it as he did, not wanting it to see him...if it could see. It didn't even as he closed the space between them completely which he was grateful for. He braced himself as he jumped and grabbed the fur on the creatures ankle and braced himself for the worst. It started to flail it's leg to try and knock him off as it finally noticed his presence. Cloud clung on, closing his eyes to keep the fur from irritating them. When it stopped moving so vicious. He lifted his sword, positioning it above it's ankle and plunging it deep into a slightly glowing mark beneath the fur. The creature let out a scream as it fell onto it's knees, shaking upon impact, but what was bothering Cloud more was the sudden surge of nearly black blood that shot out of the new wound like a geyser spraying into the blond's face, he almost let go of the creature to cover his face, when he realized now was his chance to start climbing up it's back to it's head. He jumped and grabbed onto a cuff at the top of it's thigh before grabbing onto more fur and onto what seemed to be a platform on the creatures back. He sat down briefly keep a hold on the fur as the creature sat up. It was nice to rest his arms though. This rest didn't last long though as he stood up again and continued to climb his way up the monsters back and onto it's shoulders.

There was little shaking as Cloud finally managed to stand up on this beasts massively broad shoulders. He took another short break, one hand clinging to the spines on the creatures back to keep himself balanced when the beast decided to move suddenly. He held his sword in hand as he looked onto the creatures head. He took a step closer, keeping a hold of the spines and he noticed a glowing cyan insignia on the monsters head. He had never seen a creature with such an obvious target. He knelt down and grabbed onto the fur again and he crawled out onto it's flat head. It made no move to shake him off and he took a sharp breath as he plunged his sword into the creatures head. Another geyser of blood met his face as he removed the blade and the colossus finally decided to show it was agitated and throw it's head about in a small tantrum. Cloud only managed to hold on with one hand, only able to use his feet slightly to keep himself from falling off the side of the colossus's head. He lifted his sword and hit the same spot again. It's movements had started to slow as Cloud gave it one last hit. It let out a screech as it fell to the ground.

Cloud couldn't hold on any more as he let go and hit the ground moments after the colossus did. The breath was pressed out of him and he huffed lightly into the ground which he noted was covered in blood, mainly the blood rubbing from his face. He pushed himself to his knees and noticed that he was covered in the monsters blood. He raised his lip in disgust and took a step away from the deceased monster which was still spraying blood. Suddenly a sharp pain surged through his body from his chest as though he had been stabbed. He staggered and saw these black tendrils making there way into his body. His eyes started to close, he tried his hardest to keep them open but it was to no avail as he fell to his knees and he was completely passed out before his shoulders hit the ground.

A bright light filled his vision, and he thought for sure this was it he was dead. Why hadn't he been able to do more then this. As his consciousness slipped completely from him and everything went black in his vision and mind. There was the faintest of whispers which sounded like Zack's voice as his mind escaped him.

It seemed like a dream when he opened his blue eyes again. Slowly he came to his senses and pushed himself up onto his knees. He looked around to see he was back at the shrine. He could see Zack again, still lying lifelessly on the alter. Cloud pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the alter putting his sword on his back. Upon a foot of the stone slab he fell to his knees and let out a heavy sigh resting his arms beside Zack. He was rather spent and he hardly noticed that now he as completely clean, not a drop of blood anywhere on his being. "I don't know if I can do this. I don't think I'm strong enough." Cloud whispered to Zack. Cloud's blue eyes kept there place on Zack's peaceful looking face, he wanted to see this man smile again...if only he were stronger. He reached out with one hand and brushed up Zack's arm and across one cheek with the lightest of smiles at the thoughts, the memories, and his dreams of the life they should have had together. He was pulled out of these thoughts by a rumbling behind him. He jumped to his feet again and turned around to see one of the many statues in the room started to glow and shake as deep cracks started to cover it before it crumbled without being touched. Cloud was shocked...he had managed to destroy one of them. He couldn't help the almost giddy feeling rising up inside of him at this miniscule victory. He took a step towards the stairs when the voice of Dormin filled the room again.

"Thy next foe is..." it started, "In the seaside cave, it moves slowly. Raise thy courage to defeat it." And that was it, the voice disappeared as quickly as it had started leaving Cloud with this...almost riddle like statement to work through. He turned back around and looked out of the shrine to the landscape beyond, actually filling himself with this hope, he had a sudden thought that maybe...just maybe. He could actually do this. Maybe he had gotten as strong as he had to be, maybe he was fit to save his friends, family, even love.

* * *

**I can officially play this game well 83. I'm going through the time trials and I beat the one I found the second hardest (Number VIII- BUDDY!) in 5 minutes, I was in shock. I also managed to beat 4(evil horsey), 10 and 14 in the time limits; I was showing my friend some of my faves, hence the randomness. Anyways~ I took a break in writing this because I have to get back to the fourth one in the game to record it because the stupid Dazzle didn't recored my defeat 3,4 and 5 even though I had it recording B| So yeah, whatever~.**

~Fire 


End file.
